1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunication devices capable of utilizing multiple incoming telephone lines, and more particularly, to a method for preselecting the telephone lines to associate with a particular outgoing call number.
2. Description of Related Art
One of the new developments in the continuing evolution of wireless communication devices has been the creation of wireless communication units which are capable of having multiple calling numbers (telephone lines) associated therewith. Thus, calls may be made from the same communications unit using accounts associated with separate telephone numbers. While this is a very desirable and expected development in the usage of telecommunication devices, the availability of multiple phone lines in a single telecommunications unit poses a particular challenge. Namely, when several lines are available, how does a user select which telephone line to use. Some manner for preventing the user from being overwhelmed with choices is desired when they may be in a hurry to make a telephone call.
One potential solution involves the use of an auto select function which automatically selects the telephone line on which an outgoing call will be initiated from the telecommunications unit. A selection algorithm utilizes factors such as reliability to select which telephone line to use. Unfortunately, selection algorithms may not address all of the concerns a user may actually have when attempting to select a telephone line for use. An automatic approach substantially reduces the flexibility available to the user such that a naive user may select a line providing less desirable performance while more experienced users would be forced to disable an auto select function in order to tailor the phone to their desired needs.
Thus, due to the varied desires of telecommunication device users, it is virtually impossible to select a telephone line by any algorithm that meets all of a users calling needs. For example, a user may not wish to make a personal call from a telephone line paid for by his employer, or make a business call from a line for which he is personally billed. Additionally, a user may not wish to call a specific number from a telephone line on which he does not have caller ID blocking. Thus, some manner for providing users of multi-line telecommunication units to more flexibly control their outgoing calling line is desired.